Governing Money and Finance (POLS90045)

Governing Money and Finance is an elective subject available to students enrolled in the Master of International Relations and other masters degree students in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. The subject provides an advanced introduction to the comparative and global politics of monetary and financial governance. It will introduce students to international monetary relations over the last century, including central issues of the causes and consequences of cycles of crisis and stabilization; international monetary and financial governance; the regulation of private markets and nonstate actors; and how these relate to power, international cooperation and conflict. Major issues include the use of national and international reserve assets, the domestic and international politics of exchange rate adjustment, the operations and regulation of banks and other institutions in international money and capital markets, market and institutional constraints upon national policy choices, and the politics of monetary and financial crises. The role of international institutions including the IMF, the Basel Committee, the Financial Stability Board, the G7, G20 and regional mechanisms in Europe and Asia will be covered. The subject will employ concepts and theories in political economy and international relations to address these empirical issues. As a political economy subject, the emphasis is upon the evolving political and institutional context in which monetary and financial markets operate and not upon the technical aspects of their operation or upon economic theory. However, some basic concepts and theories in economics will be used to explore the political aspects of monetary and financial governance. Prior knowledge of finance and economics is not required.